The Imp Site

and its badge-engineered cousins

The Rootes Group project to develop a small Hillman started in 1955. And a "gallant wee Scot" arrived into the world on 2nd May 1963. Coming from a conservative manufacturer, this car was anything but orthodox.

The Rootes Group consisted of five marques: Hillman, Humber, Singer, Sunbeam and Commer. They used the images that the public had of these different marques (sporty Sunbeams, luxurious Singers) to have the Imp appeal to different groups of people. This is called badge engineering. Most of the cars in the Imp range were made under more than one badge.